The first earthquake, measured at a magnitude of 4.9, occurred off the northern California coast at 5:35 p.m. local time Tuesday. The epicenter was recorded about 60 miles northwest of Eureka, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

I am speaking of the life of a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children; who has undertaken to cherish it and do it no damage, not because he is duty-bound, but because he loves the world and loves his children… - Wendell Berry, 1971